RD Sports Headlines Harveyhttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/collectionRss/RD-Sports-Headlines-Harvey-18829.php
http://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Harvey-Cotton-Bowl-gets-its-pick-in-A-amp-M-OU-4085816.php
article4085816
Aggies, Sooners to renew rivalry after N. Illinois joins BCS party with Orange bid [...] the sun was shining through the open roof Sunday at the Jones-Mahal, aka Cowboys Stadium, the home of the Jan. 4 Cotton Bowl game. Believe me, Longhorns fans who have suffered enough indignities - We own Texas, we own Texas,'' Kansas State fans chanted Saturday night during a 42-24 victory - are not among them. The Cotton Bowl game is no longer one of the Big Four as it was along with the Rose, Orange and Sugar bowl games for decades when they represented the season's climax each New Year's Day, but it is one of the best bowl games this season. Every time I stood at the chalkboard to jot down dream matchups the last couple of weeks, this game between Aggies and Sooners kept coming up,'' Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker said. Alabama, playing in its third national championship game in the last four seasons, is the new Notre Dame. The Mid-American Conference champion belongs in the GoDaddy.com Bowl or the Humanitarian Bowl, where the Huskies played the last two seasons, not the Orange Bowl. [...] it is because Northern Illinois finished among the top 16 in the BCS standings, No. 15 to be exact, and ahead of two champions of automatic qualifying conferences that the Orange Bowl had to take them, according to the rules that are supposed to provide fairness to bowl selection. Maybe they didn't think Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel, college football's most exciting player and frontrunner to become the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, would attract attention or television viewers. ]]>
Mon, 3 Dec 2012 05:47:42 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Hashtags-for-a-Manziel-Heisman-That-s-innovative-4042446.php
article4042446
Cynics might suggest this week's effort by the university - in conjunction with the Manziel family - to trademark Johnny Football'' was strategically timed to draw more attention to the freshman quarterback a couple of weeks before the Heisman balloting deadline. [...] the move was necessary to protect a 19-year-old kid's image now and his right to profit from the nickname when he no longer has college eligibility. Jason Cook, the university's vice president for marketing and communications, confirmed a Heisman campaign has officially been launched. The mother of Heisman campaigns was devised by legendary Notre Dame sports information director Roger Valdisseri during the 1960s, when he persuaded a certain Irish quarterback to change the pronunciation of his family's name from Thees-mann to Theismann. On behalf of quarterback Ryan Leaf in 1997, former Washington State coach Mike Price had his sports information department collect bags of leaves and send a single leaf to each voter. The Aggies attempted a Heisman campaign once, in 1995 for 'Lectric Leeland McElroy, but it crashed because of injuries. Coach Kevin Sumlin appeared to share the university's philosophy, addressing Manziel's potential Heisman candidacy as recently as last week by saying, It's been my experience that these things take care of themselves.'' The Trojans began the season with a mobile app for quarterback Matt Barkley - Project Tro7an'' as he wears No. 7 - but since, like everyone else, have jumped off his bandwagon and onto one, complete with video highlights, for receiver Marqise Lee. ]]>
Fri, 16 Nov 2012 04:54:53 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Aggies-earn-right-to-whoop-it-up-by-beating-No-1-4026972.php
article4026972
Maybe some victories were more important during the Aggies' undefeated seasons of 1917 or '19 or '27 or, certainly, of '39, when they were undisputed national champions. Or maybe in 1957, when they were regaining national prominence with running back John David Crow becoming the university's only Heisman Trophy winner. Or maybe you could even argue the 1999 victory over Texas was more important from an emotional standpoint, coming a few days after a tragic bonfire accident, with even the Longhorns band playing Amazing Grace'' to honor the 12 who died. Memorable play after memorable play came down to one play that will never be forgotten in Aggies lore, an interception by sophomore defensive back Deshazor Everett on fourth-and-goal from the Texas A&M 2-yard line with 1:36 remaining. Texas A&M, which entered the game as a 13½ point underdog despite losses only to highly-ranked Florida and LSU and its own No. 15 ranking, struck quickly against the nation's most dominant defense, scoring on its first three drives for a 20-0 first-quarter lead against a team that had allowed only six points in the first quarter of its first nine games. Alabama kicked a field goal in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 20-17, no doubt giving the crowd visions of the Tide's fourth-quarter comeback the previous Saturday in Baton Rouge in a thrilling victory over LSU. [...] that's what it came down to. The moments after that were reserved for the defense, the one for the ages coming on Everett's interception when it appeared that the Aggies, as has been their reputation in big games over the last two seasons, would again succumb to a comeback. ]]>
Sun, 11 Nov 2012 04:34:56 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Harvey-Ole-Miss-incident-triggers-memories-of-4025242.php
article4025242Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:50:31 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Johnny-Football-can-t-beat-Bama-by-himself-4014085.php
article4014085
Much credit goes to quarterback Johnny Manziel, second in the nation in total offense, an SEC player of the week in six of the season's 10 weeks, on the watch list for the Maxwell (player of the year) and Manning (quarterback) awards, and maybe even a Heisman Trophy candidate if the Aggies beat Alabama. Speaking of the Tide's offensive linemen alone, Aggies defensive tackle Spencer Nealy said Tuesday that coaches each week place stars by the names of opposing players expected to give the defensive linemen the most headaches. Since it was clear he wasn't going to do that, let Randy Sportswriter tell you. [...] the Aggies must start fast. [...] if the Aggies can get the jump, they can start to take the crowd out of the game like they did in silencing those cowbells last Saturday in a 38-13 victory at Mississippi State. The Tide has faced one up-tempo offense this season, in a 33-14 victory over Mississippi, and coach Nick Saban made it clear afterward he didn't like it, suggesting it gave the offense too much of an advantage and made defensive players more prone to injury. A significant early lead for the Aggies also could cause the Tide to go away from their running attack, featuring two backs averaging more than 75 yards a game. ]]>
Wed, 7 Nov 2012 01:49:40 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Harvey-Turns-out-the-Packers-just-wanted-this-3948485.php
article3948485Mon, 15 Oct 2012 06:55:24 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Harvey-No-rivalry-beats-Texas-Oklahoma-3941279.php
article3941279
DALLAS - Visiting the Baltimore Ravens' locker room this week for a future story, I ran into rookie kicker Justin Tucker, who was preparing at this time last year for the University of Texas' annual game at the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma. If you're going to buy a video game based on intensity, would you choose one called "Mortal Enemy'' or "Playing Against Your Little Brother?'' When the Dallas Morning News surveyed 119 college football coaches in 2009, Texas-OU was selected as the sport's No. 1 rivalry, followed by Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn and Army-Navy. By the second Saturday in October, they haven't played enough formidable opponents to move far down or out. Since 1945, when the first poll emerged, either Texas or Oklahoma, often both, has been ranked in 62 of 67 seasons. Darrell Royal, the person most identified with the series because he played for Oklahoma and coached at Texas, said it was the kind of game where players were expected to "screw their navels to the ground and scratch, bite and spit." Barry Switzer, Royal's mortal enemy as the Sooners' head coach, more eloquently said, No game can match the atmosphere, the intensity, the energy level that the Texas-Oklahoma game does. The universities make more money splitting the tickets and ticket sales evenly at a neutral site, and they get subsidies from the city of Dallas to stay at the Cotton Bowl instead of moving to Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington. ]]>
Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:10:00 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Harvey-If-Astros-want-intense-they-got-it-with-3900931.php
article3900931Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:31:44 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Texans-see-Schaub-develop-into-leader-3890864.php
article3890864
If you're a Texans fan, you might have had nightmares Sunday night after watching them almost cough up a 20-point lead in the final 10 minutes. Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes before time ran out on him and the Denver Broncos, not a minute too soon for the Texans in a 31-25 victory. [...] Schaub, perhaps inspired by earlier throws in the thin air that made him look like Dan Marino, tried out his new cannon on a pass downfield to wide receiver Kevin Walter, who was not open on the sideline. Defensive back Wesley Woodyard had him covered, intercepted and might have gone for a touchdown if he hadn't scraped the sideline with his foot. The Broncos turned the opportunity into a field goal and trailed at halftime by 10 instead of 13 or more. When Schaub returned to the sideline after the interception, coach Gary Kubiak turned his back. Schaub went to the sideline - mandatory this season for players who lose their helmets - and returned one play later after the doctor told him he could. The Texans gave him a four-year contract extension when the regular season began, sending a message to his teammates that he's the leader for now and beyond. ]]>
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:11:49 UThttp://www.chron.com/sports/columnists/harvey/article/Harvey-Texans-2012-fate-may-hinge-on-Broncos-3886565.php
article3886565
DENVER - The Texans have won a few significant games in their short history, starting with their NFL debut in 2002. Others most notably include three regular-season games the Texans won in 2011 after quarterback Matt Schaub suffered a season-ending injury to advance to the postseason for the first time. Another scenario is that the Texans lose to Denver and drop to 2-1, with six of their next 10 games against teams considered playoff contenders. Not only that, Houston's previous professional football team - the Oilers - started 3-0 just once in 37 seasons. [...] take into consideration that Manning might be the quarterback who led the Broncos to a 31-19 victory over Pittsburgh in the season opener instead of the one who threw three interceptions in the first quarter of a 27-21 loss to Atlanta on Monday night. Cheering him on will be one of the NFL's most boisterous crowds. Home teams have won 23 of 32 games, four more than the average through two games of the last three seasons, a trend some blame on crowds intimidating the replacement officials. No matter who is officiating, the Broncos throughout their history have won 62 percent of their games at home, just behind Miami and just ahead of Pittsburgh among original AFC teams. Of six unbeaten teams, they are the only one to win both games by double digits. ]]>
Sun, 23 Sep 2012 01:27:00 UT